Review:

"Anyone who loves chocolate will swoon from Susie Norris’s ode to the world’s most seductive ingredient."

-- David Lebovitz
author of The Great Book of Chocolate and The Perfect Scoop
 

Sample Recipe:

Artisan Caramel Bonbons

Handmade caramel is sophisticated and soothingly sweet, especially when combined with the bold flavors of artisan chocolate. You can also dip these bonbons in tempered chocolate before you dust them to create chocolate caramel truffles. Makes about 30 truffles

Chocolate Choices
Green & Black’s or Michel Cluizel dark chocolate, Scharffen Berger milk chocolate

2 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons kosher salt
8 ounces dark chocolate (70% cacao or higher), finely chopped
4 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
2 ounces unsweetened
cocoa powder, for dusting

Prepare a bowl of ice water and set aside. Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a heavy pan. Stir gently until all the sugar is wet, and make sure no sugar crystals are on the sides of the pan. Place over medium heat—no stirring—and allow the mixture to boil for about 10 minutes. You can cover the pan for a few minutes as it boils, which will wash away any unwanted sugar crystals on the sides. You’ll start to see a light amber color form around the edges of the sugar. Continue boiling until the mixture is the color of honey or maple syrup. This is now caramel, so be very careful because it is very hot!

Plunge the saucepan into the ice water to “shock” the sugar and stop if from cooking. Return the saucepan to the burner, add the butter, then the cream, vanilla, and salt. It will steam and bubble up, then you can stir it together. Once the mixture has cooled off (about 10 minutes), add the dark and milk chocolates and stir until mixed. If the caramel sticks to the bottom of the pan, turn the heat on very low while you stir.

Allow this mixture to cool off in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, or until it becomes firm enough to roll into balls with your hands. With a melon baller or sturdy spoon, roll out as many balls as you need. The mixture makes about 30 truffles – any unused portion can be reheated and used as a sauce over ice cream—Refrigerate them for about ½ hour so they will hold their shape, then dust them with cocoa powder and serve on a decorative plate.
 

About the Author:

SUSIE NORRIS is an artisan chocolatier, pastry chef, culinary school instructor, and TV producer. Her chocolate business, Happy Chocolates, has been featured on the Food Network and in More magazine. She served as associate chef/instructor at California School of Culinary Arts (Le Cordon Bleu Program). Susie divides her time between Los Angeles and the beautiful Berkshires in Massachusetts.